Biden Urges Speedy Reforms In Call With New Ukrainian PM Hroysman

WASHINGTON -- The White House says U.S. Vice President Joe Biden urged new Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman to quickly implement reforms in a telephone call after Ukraine's parliament approved the new premier on April 14.

Biden congratulated Hroysman on his new post and the new cabinet approved by lawmakers earlier in the day, and stressed that "the new team should move forward quickly" on its reform program in order to maintain international support for Kyiv, a White House statement said.

This includes fulfilling Ukraine's International Monetary Fund commitments, implementing the Minsk agreements aimed at regulating the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and confirming a new "reformist" prosecutor general, the White House said.

Biden "reiterated unwavering U.S. commitment to the prosperity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the statement added.

Hroysman succeeds the embattled Arseniy Yatsenyuk in the most significant government shake-up since pro-Western leadership took power in Ukraine following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally, in 2014.